Babysit
by happy29
Summary: Ray agrees to babysit Frannie's children for the day, Fraser is along for the ride. What's a little chaos?


Babysit

By: happy 29

Disclaimer: I do not own due South. I'm just borrowing the guys again.

A/N: I had the pleasure of watching my cousin's children the other day and this story came from that experience. Her five year old and two year old paired with my three year old made for a chaotic day. I love kids, but thought it would be fun to throw a couple of them at Fraser ad Ray for the day and see how they faired. This was all for fun, I'm sure all of you parents can relate to the chaos

Benton Fraser and Ray Kowalski sank into their couch and surveyed the damage to their apartment. It looked as if a hurricane had whipped through and devastated every available surface.

"Oh my god, Fraser...are you still in one piece?" "I'm not entirely sure, Ray. I think I may have misplaced my sense of humor."

"Okay, so, I'm really glad Stella and I never had kids. What did Frannie feed those kids before she dropped them off?"

"Well, I believe the smallest one drank your coffee. Now you see why I ask you to hold off on the sugar you add to it?"

"This is all your fault, Ben."

"_My fault_? How on earth is this my fault? _You _told Francesca that we would watch the children. As I recall..."

"There will be no recalling...I admit, we were in way over our heads."

"It wasn't _tha_t bad..." "You _obviously _have not seen your hat then, have you?"

"What about my hat?" Fraser stared hard at Ray and Ray just grinned in return.

Fraser and Ray had agreed to watch Francesca's five year old twins and her three year old toddler while she went on a school field trip with her two older children. Ray agreed, thinking, there's three of them, they can play together, right? Wrong...three kids, three personalities and they out numbered Ray and Fraser by one...one innocent, little child.

The morning started off normal enough. Fraser let Ray sleep in while he showered and started breakfast, including a pot of coffee that he knew full well that Ray was going to need with Francesca's children arriving within the next hour. _Piece of cake, _Ray had told him. Fraser didn't mind children. They were so full of innocence and inquisitive and they asked the most interesting questions. Surely, between the two of them they could handle this.

Fraser went into the bedroom and sat down softly on Ray's side of the bed. "Hey, sleeping beauty, the kids will be here shortly. Think that maybe you can wake up enough to help me out?" Ray groaned into his pillow. "Only if you have coffee waiting for me." "I made you a whole pot, Ray. I also took the liberty of laying out some M&Ms for your coffee. I figured you would need some this morning. However, there aren't as many as you normally use. You really should cut back on your sugar intake."

"Fraser, I love you, but, with Frannie's kids, I may need a double dose of M&M's."

Ray burrowed further into his pillow. "Give me ten more minutes, please. You know I'm not a morning person."

"Ah… I am well aware that you are not a morning person. I also know that if you don't get up in five minutes, I'm _leaving_ and _you _can watch the children by yourself." With a quick swat to Ray's backside, Fraser got up off the bed and headed out into the living room to put away a few breakable items the kids would surely find inviting to play with. From the bedroom, he could hear Ray yelling back at him. "_That's not very Mountie like of you!" _Fraser just laughed at Ray's remark.

"I hope Francesca brings some toys for the children." Fraser looked at Ray a bit concerned as Ray emerged from their bedroom. He stifled a yawn and walked towards the kitchen.

"Don't worry about Frannie. She's like super- mom. She will have snacks and toys and blankets and probably crayons and coloring books. Prepare to color all day Fraser." Ray poured himself a large cup of coffee and added an extra scoop of M&Ms. Within minutes, there was a knock on the door and Ray hurried over and opened the door, allowing Frannie and her three children into their apartment, which suddenly seemed far too small.

"You two are a godsend. I can't thank you enough. Now, the twins will probably just play with their dolls all day, but don't be surprised if they want to play beauty shop. And the little one, I'm really sorry but he has a touch of a cold.

"Don't worry about a thing Francesca. I'm sure between myself and Ray; we will be able to handle a little sniffle." Fraser gave Francesca a reassuring smile.

"Okay, now, we won't be back until about 5 this evening. I packed plenty of clothes and diapers and toys and snacks. If they won't eat well for you, it's okay. They usually get picky when at someone else's home."

"Frannie, the kids will be fine. Hell, I'm like a big kid myself. They will fit right in around here. Besides, I don't always eat what I'm supposed to either, do I Frase?"

"No, unfortunately, your eating habits leave something to be desired at times."

"Okay, you kids be good for Uncle Ben and Uncle Ray and I will see you when I get home tonight. Please be on your best behavior. I don't want any reports of coloring on the walls on putting your pudding in the toilet." Ray and Fraser shared a quick glance at each other and Ray mouthed, "_What the hell_?"

"Thanks again, guys. I will see you tonight." Frannie gave each of her children and hug and a kiss goodbye and quickly left the apartment before the smallest child realized his mom had just left.

"Okay kids, what shall we do first?" Fraser was hoping for something simple, like coloring or playing with the blocks Francesca had provided. The twins had other ideas up their sleeves. "Can we paint your walls with purple hearts?" The dark haired Bethany asked Fraser. "Umm… no, I don't believe that we can do that today. How about we color in your books that your mom brought for you." Fraser countered hoping to dissolve the painting idea for good. "Well, if we can't paint, can we at least put heart stickers on the wall? It will make a very pretty picture for you and Uncle Ray. We can put it on your bedroom wall." The girls grabbed their bag and started to head towards Ray and Fraser's bedroom. This time Ray interrupted the conversation and quickly blocked the doorway to their bedroom. There will be no placement of any stickers on any walls. They belong in sticker books, not on walls." Bethany's twin, Courtney took this opportunity to speak up herself. "Uncle Ben, will you tell Diefenbaker to be our horse, so we can ride him around?" "I'm terribly sorry, Courtney, but Diefenbaker is not big enough to allow you to ride on him. Perhaps you could take one of your dolls and maybe Dief will allow the doll to ride him, but you girls are too big." At the mention of his name Diefenbaker took off for the bedroom and slipped underneath the bed.

"Dief's not stupid, Fraser. Uh… where did little Joey go?" Both men looked around the living room and could not find the little boy. Ray went into the kitchen and found him standing in front of the refrigerator with the door standing wide open and the jelly, milk, orange juice and a block of cheese all sitting on the floor. "Are you hungry, Joey?" "No", was the little boy's reply. "Okay, then let's put all this stuff back and lets go play with your blocks." The mention of the blocks got Joey's attention and he followed Ray back into the living room. Ray frowned as Fraser wrestled a package of Band-Aids from Courtney. "Where did she find those?" "Well, apparently, while I had my back turned looking for Joey, she found it in the bathroom cupboard."

"Good god, these kids get into everything…" "Ray, I fear we may need back up today."

"Ha! And here all along, I thought I had myself a super Mountie. I thought you could handle _anything, _Fraser." "Well, I believe I have met my match." Ray chuckled and went off in search of Joey again, who was under the kitchen table with the maple syrup, making pancakes out of the stack of napkins. "Fraser, Frannie owes us, _big time!" _Ray cleaned up the mess and placed the toddler back into the living room in front of the stack of blocks.

"Uncle Ray, why do you and Uncle Ben only have one bed?" The question caught Ray off guard.

"Bethany, let's not worry about the bed right now, what are you doing in our room anyway?"

"I was looking for nail polish, that's where mommy keeps her polish."

"Well, we are guys, we don't own polish."

"Uncle Ben, can you make us tea from your plants? Can we pick it? Mommy said we could pick it, can we?"

"Of course, we can make some tea." Fraser took the girls into the kitchen and showed them what leaves to pick off the plants in order to steep them some tea.

"Is it ready yet?"

"No… not yet. Give it a few minutes yet."

"Now is it ready?" Fraser groaned. "How about I bring each of you a cup when it is finished and cooled off enough to drink?" The girls agreed and took off for the living room in search of Fraser only assumed was something else to get into." He sighed and looked at his watch, only four more hours to go. He leaned his forehead against the counter and was wondering how Ray was faring with little Joey when he heard him call his name.

"_Fraser! We got a problem!"_

"What is it, Ray?" Fraser stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of Ray holding Joey in his hands, stretched straight out in front of him.

"This kid just puked on me… _a little help, please!"_

"Oh, dear…"

A broken lamp, a book now missing its front cover, several stickers removed from Dief's fur, all the pots and pans placed back into the appropriate cupboards, Fraser's toothbrush removed from the tea plant and the second round of vomit cleaned off of Fraser this time and Francesca finally returned to pick up her children.

"I hope they weren't too much trouble for you today. I really owe you guys a huge thank you." Ray and Fraser glanced at each other and then back at Francesca.

"It was our pleasure, Frannie." Ray gave her a quick hug and helped the twins with the new necklaces they had made out of macaroni. Funny, the things you remember from grade school, but boy was it a life saver when the girls wanted to start playing beauty parlor. Macaroni necklaces in tow, each of the children said goodbye to Ray and Fraser. Francesca thanked them again and ushered her children out the door.

"Can you hear that, Ben?" Confused, Fraser stared at Ray, cocking his head trying to figure out what Ray was hearing.

"I don't hear anything, Ray."

"Exactly… peace and quiet, just how I Like it." Fraser walked Ray over to the couch and they both sat down. He wrapped his arm around Ray's neck and pulled him in for a quick kiss.

"Ray, can you tell me why we only have one bed?" Fraser started laughing and sighed… kids ask the darndest questions.


End file.
